National Gun Conference aims to unite shooters, fight bad politics


Western Australia Police Minister Paul Papalia will be be named Hoplophobe of the Year at the inaugural National Gun Conference, being held online across Australia on Sunday, 4 August.

“The Conference will be the first annual event to raise shooters’ concerns to a national level to put the spotlight on the fact shooters in every state and territory continue to face political attacks out of political expediency,” co-organiser Neil Jenkins said.

The conference will be available online free to view via YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/live/7qXTbuDt9ZA?si=94GfYJgPvIOKcNU0) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/events/7842533445781948)

Mr Jenkins said the Hoplophobe of the Year award recognised Papalia’s “decisive approach to rewriting the (WA) state’s gun laws” and was tongue in cheek, but aimed at highlighting the way Australian shooters feel about how firearms law and policy is handled by governments.

“Thirty thousand shooters tried to tell the government that it was on the wrong track, but Papalia irrationally continued down this path — so the award is there for him,” Mr Jenkins said.

He said the award may be tongue-in-cheek but is aimed at highlighting the frustrations that the nation’s shooters have about the way firearm laws and policies are managed.

“No matter where you go, shooters will detail the failings they see in gun laws and policies in their state or territory. They are also frustrated by the closed door that they face when they try to raise this with MPs from the major parties,” he said.  

“The views of many MPs are based on assumptions that are false, and predominantly gained from television.  This is a common theme in every state and territory, so this conference will dig deeper into this cause, and explore options to empower shooters to engage with politicians, including at elections.”

Keynote speakers for the three-hour event will include former federal senators David Leyonhjelm and Nigel Scullion, representatives from organising group Politics Reloaded and shooting peak body Shooters Union Australia, as well as political party representatives from Queensland, WA and NT. 

Mr Jenkins said if the conference went well, it would become an annual event focusing on states and territories with upcoming elections.

“We’re starting with small online events, with the intention to grow it into something that no shooter can afford to miss,” he said.

Shooters Union Australia vice-president David Brown said the organisation was happy to support the conference, and looked forward to being among the presenters.

“There are a lot of issues facing shooters at the moment, and we collectively need to sit down and work out a way to tackle them,” he said.

“Shooters Union has always been about been getting proactive and working with other shooting organisations to get better results for law-abiding firearms users, and events like the National Gun Conference are very much a part of that approach.”

The National Gun Conference can be viewed free online on Sunday, August 4 from 2-5pm via https://www.youtube.com/live/7qXTbuDt9ZA?si=94GfYJgPvIOKcNU0 (YouTube) or https://www.facebook.com/events/7842533445781948 (Facebook).

 

 

 


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Royce Wilson

Royce is something rare in Australia: A journalist who really likes guns. He has been interested in firearms as long as he can remember, and is particularly interested in military and police firearms from the 19th Century to the present. In addition to historical and collectible firearms, he is also a keen video gamer and has written for several major newspapers and websites on that subject.

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